


The Phoenix of Fire, The Immortal Bird

by onoheiwa



Series: Kurofai Week '16 [8]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Angst, Canon Cameos, Death, Dragons, Foxes, Goddesses, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Phoenixes, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 19:44:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8546695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onoheiwa/pseuds/onoheiwa
Summary: Eons ago, when the world was young and men were newly born, there was a goddess of divine power. She was the bride of the god who created magic and she was its greatest practitioner. Her long black hair was like a curtain of night around her face and her beautiful robes were adorned with glittering butterflies that flitted around from place to place on the fabric when they thought no one was looking.One day, she heard of a powerful being, a bird of fire that lived an entire lifetime from dawn until dusk only to be born anew each morning. Using her magic she summoned the creature to her and asked it its name.  Prompt: Instead of a modern adaptation of a myth, write a mythic adaptation of a modern story.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Stemmed from the prompt to instead of writing a modern adaptation of a myth, to write a myth of a modern story. This isn't quite that, though, it's more like an AU in myth form since most of the characters in the Tsebasa-Verse don't appear. I'm relatively pleased with how it turned out, though. I told the story I wanted to tell. 
> 
> I kind of stepped away from my usual style of writing, though, and tried to model the prose after the form that appears in most mythology (especially Norse, since that is what I have read the most of). It reads in a slightly old fashioned way, specifically in some of the vocabulary used, but it is also simplistic since most mythology was passed down as oral stories for centuries and meant to be understood by people of all ages. 
> 
> And yes, there really is a main character death and it is permanent. If you don't like tragedy I advise you never read mythology of any kind because half of it doesn't end well for someone.

Sit quietly, dear children, and let me tell you the tale of how the great Phoenix of Fire died. 

 

~~~ 

 

Eons ago, when the world was young and men were newly born, there was a goddess of divine power. She was the bride of the god who created magic and she was its greatest practitioner. Her long black hair was like a curtain of night around her face and her beautiful robes were adorned with glittering butterflies that flitted around from place to place on the fabric when they thought no one was looking. 

 

She lived in a secluded glen, a place hidden among the vines and leaves of the forest and only those that were lost could find it. 

 

One day her faithful servant, a black fox with one blue eye and one gold, brought to her a book, an ancient book full of strange magics unknown even to the goddess. It told the story of a majestic bird wreathed in flame that died and was reborn at the close of each day and the dawn of each morn, its ashes the womb and the charred bones the egg for the new life that would spring forth with the coming light. 

 

The goddess was intrigued and so she gathered all her power around her like a cloak and using the knowledge given to her by her great husband she summoned forth this creature in a flash of light and a gust of wind. 

 

The fiery bird appeared before her and lowered its long neck in a graceful bow, scorching the earth beneath its feet and filling the air with the scent of smoke. 

 

The goddess spoke. “I am called the Goddess of Magic and Fate, the Witch of Wishes and the Woman of Wyrd and the Consort of Creation. What are you called, creature?” 

 

The bird stayed low to the ground and its voice was soft despite its volcanic tongue. “I have heard of you, Great Goddess, and know of your mighty power. I am the Phoenix of Fire, the Immortal Bird, and the one called ‘the Taunter of Death,’ and I kneel before you with a worthy wish and a desperate plea.” 

 

The goddess looked down at the bird and thought for a long moment. “And what is your wish, Phoenix of Fire?” 

 

“That you would use your mighty power to end my life forever, that I would burn up this last night and never again rise forth from my own ashes to live another day in agony,” the bird said, and great drops of fire fell from its beak and burned the grass beneath as it wept.

 

The goddess looked at the bird with sadness, then, for this was a wish she could not grant. “I cannot give you death,” she said, “for that is a power I have not been granted. As the Consort of Creation I cannot end a life, even out of mercy and so you will not find salvation from me.” 

 

The bird wept even more at her words, its long neck lowering even further until its head lay against the ground in bitter sorrow. 

 

The goddess thought for many long minutes, eyes closed and her face tilted toward the sky as she considered all her knowledge and sought for an answer to the bird’s pain. “There may be another who can help you,” she said. “I know of a man who has learned the powers of the waters, of oceans and ice and rain, for he he was raised by them in the wilderness near the Majestic Falls, the home of Ginryuu the Water Dragon. Perhaps he can help you, for fire and water are opposites and enemies and perhaps he can destroy you.” 

 

The goddess’s words comforted the bird and he raised his head from the earth with a fluttering of his flaming wings. He asked where he could find this man and memorized the goddess’s instructions perfectly, following her fox servant out of the glen and into the wilderness. 

 

The Phoenix of Fire flew for many dies, stopping each night to die as its internal flame consumed him entirely, and to be born again with the dawn, rising as a fledgling and growing from a tiny blot on the blue expanse to a streak of fire that spread across the sky like a banner by day’s end. It was a long journey to the Majestic Falls and the bird was tired when it arrived, the sun setting in the west and glittering off the roaring water like tiny flames. 

 

Near the falls, standing proudly on the stones at the lake below, was a man of great height and dark hair. He held a black sword in his hand and spoke to the water like it were a dear friend and watched it swirl and churn with a gentle smile on his face. 

 

The bird alighted nearby, bowing low to the ground before the man. “Are you the one who was raised by the water? The man who possess the power of ocean and ice and rain?” 

 

“I am,” the man said. “I am the Son of the Water Dragon, the Silver Dragon Ginryuu, and the wielder of the Black Steel, which you may call me.” 

 

“Black Steel, I am the Phoenix of Fire, the Immortal Bird, and I come to you with desperate plea, a request for violent mercy on my behalf. Please, use your power of the waters to quench my fire and end my life for I live each day in torment, my body consumed by fire from dawn until dusk. I am reborn each morning from my own ashes and the pain is too great for me to bear. Please have mercy on me!” 

 

The man looked confused and stared at the prostrated bird silently for many minutes, pondering. “I have been raised by the waters of the world and their desire is to protect, to give life, and this is a difficult thing you ask of me. Why does a beautiful creature like you wish to die? Should you not seek a path that will end your torment without ending your life?” 

 

The Phoenix began to weep once more, afraid that his wish would not be granted and feeling his inner fire beginning to consume him once more as the day drew toward its close. “I say to you, Son of the Water Dragon, that I have lived in torment for an eternity and I can no longer bear it. I have sought relief in every corner of the world, have begged the gods for mercy and plead with magicians great and small to use their magic to break the spell which has bewitched my body since time began. I tell you there is no path which will free me without death and I am too weary to wish for even a painless life. I wish to die.” 

 

The man was even more troubled with this, his brow furrowed in anger and concern, but he watched the bird weep its fiery tears and felt compassion. “If you have sought salvation from so many before and been found wanting I am not sure that my power will be enough. But I will do what I can. I will kill you, if that is what you wish,” he said finally and his shoulders seemed to sink under some lofty weight. 

 

The bird wept anew, its heart filled with relief. The sun touched the horizon and its inner fire flared to life, but the bird could not feel the pain any longer, only hope. The wielder of Black Steel gathered the waters of the world to him, the spirits of ocean and ice and rain, and asked them to lend him their strength, to pour the waters upon the being at his feet and soothe the fire with their cool touch. The bird was drenched in a mighty deluge, so great that it breathed in the waters and felt a powerful river course through its body and surround its inner fire. The flame was doused, enveloped by the waters and quenched and the flames of the phoenix died. 

 

“Thank you,” whispered the bird, as the last of the flames flickered out and it breathed no more. 

 

The Son of the Water Dragon drew back the waters and sent them home, and he gathered up the Immortal Bird in his arms and wept, for the ending of a life is a heavy burden to bear and he had not wished for it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact #1: Yuuko and Clow. Totally ship it. And I happen to think it is heavily implied by CLAMP, but maybe that's just me. 
> 
> Fun Fact #2: "Wyrd" is an Anglo-Saxon word that refers to fate or destiny; it pops up a lot in modern fantasy stories and sometimes in Norse mythology. It also happens to be the root form of the English word "weird." 
> 
> Fun Fact #3: Coming up with the phoenix's last title was a pain the butt. I wanted to imply that "death" is frustrated by and outwitted by the phoenix that dies but does not die, but I also wanted it to be an alliteration but there aren't really any compatible words for that. I had to let go of the matching letters thing. 
> 
> Fun Fact #4: I read something somewhere from someone, possibly on Tumblr, possibly on AO3, that Ginryu in Nihon Country was symbolized as a water dragon but I don't remember what they were basing that theory on and I cannot find what post/work I read it in, so I cannot reference it here as part of the inspiration to this piece. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please tell me! 
> 
> Fun Fact #5: There were like at least 4 blatant xxxHolic references/cameos. Did you catch them all? 
> 
> Fun Fact #6: I'm not sorry about the ending, it's perfect.
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](onoheiwa.tumblr.com).


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